Gov Campaign Updates

Hotcha! I've gotten on a few gubernatorial campaign email lists. It is wonderful to be so popular and I only had to ask once!

From Onorato:

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato announced that if elected he will veto any legislation that forces the state to “opt out” of the public option included in the emerging national healthcare reform bill. The provision, which first became public yesterday, would allow states to “opt out” of the public option.

“It is critical for Pennsylvania’s employers and workers that we help lower healthcare costs. I believe that the proposed ‘public option’ will help expand competition and reduce prices while maintaining our current fee-for-service system,” said Onorato today. “As governor, I will fight for quality, affordable insurance for every Pennsylvanian by vetoing any opt-out from the public option.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced yesterday that he intends to introduce a healthcare reform bill that would include a provision allowing states to “opt-out” of the public option. Under his bill, states would have the ability to decide whether to offer their residents access to government-run health insurance.

“Increasing competition among insurers and lowering costs for everyone is important to being able to attract and retain companies in Pennsylvania because it will allow us to compete on a level playing field,” Onorato continued. “A public option in Pennsylvania will challenge the insurance industry to lower its prices and increase quality of care. A public option is absolutely vital to the health of every Pennsylvanian and every Pennsylvania business.”

Onorato cited Pennsylvania’s poor record of competition in the insurance industry. “Pennsylvania has one of the least competitive insurance markets in the country. A public option will even the playing field for Pennsylvania’s families and encourage a transparent and competitive healthcare marketplace,” Onorato said.

Jack Wagner wants us to vote next Tuesday and also to tell us he is hard at work as Auditor General:

Jack has spent this week continuing to promote much-needed reform of the state’s contracting process in order to ensure accountability, transparency, and value for Pennsylvania taxpayers; create jobs for Pennsylvania families; and provide a fair opportunity for Pennsylvania businesses.

“Competition is the American way, but, unfortunately it is not in the state government procurement process,” Jack said. He said that if the bidding process was not reformed soon, he would ask the General Assembly to curtail excessive spending as a result of change orders and no-bid, sole-source, and emergency contracts.